If any character in the novel represents a Christ figure it has to be Montag. Even though he does not share all the same traits as Christ that does not mean that he is not a Christ figure. Traits of Christ that are applicable to Montag is that he’s around his 30’s, self-sacrificing, good with children, came to redeem an unworthy world, in agony, in a way is unmarried, and is in a type of wilderness with an encounter with the devil. Just like Christ, Montag was sacrificing himself and his life to redeem his society of its unworthiness. For example even though many were opposed to him, thought he was crazy, and wanted him under control, he knew what was right for the people by sacrificing his own life to try to get more books printed for them. He is good with children such as Clarisse (even though she’s not typically a child but an adolescent) by not treating her as if she’s an inferior but like as a friend; which is not how most adult figures in this novel would treat her. Montag himself is in pure agony, even though he may not be physically but mentally. His soul is in torment with so much unanswered to him and he feels the only way to redeem it is through books which holds such vast amounts of information. Even though he is supposedly ‘married’ to Mildred they do not even have love and compassion for one another, just only making them seem like housemates sharing a home. One can assume that his own town can be seen as a wilderness and that the mechanical hound could be seen as the devil. The mechanical hound could be seen as the devil for it shows no sign of positivity but negativity. For example all the hound is programed to do is kill and torture people like Montag, or in this instance Christ. There are some ways Montag could be in opposition of representing a Christ figure such as killing Captain Beatty, but he being a Christ figure does not mean you have to represent Christ in every aspect. It could be seen as more favorable that Montag does...

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...Irfanali Karim
Professor Brandon
ENC 1102
April 14, 2008
Fahrenheit451 in Today’s World
In the novel, Fahrenheit451 by Ray Bradbury, the author creates a picture of a society that resembles our present-day society in a variety of ways. Although a society in which government has total control over its citizens seems to be a little extreme, there are definitely clues that can be seen today that suggest that we are headed in the same direction. Some of the resemblances between the society in Fahrenheit451 and our society today are the governments’ hypocrisy, the gullibility of the citizens who fully support the government, and the fact that books are becoming rather extinct due to advances in modern technology.
When the novel’s main character, Guy Montag, commits a great crime and is being searched for, a man that was thought to be Montag was killed, while the real Montag escaped successfully. Describing this situation, Ray Bradbury writes: “The camera fell upon the victim, even as did the Hound. Both reached him simultaneously. The victim was seized by the Hound and camera in a great spidering, clenching grip. He screamed. He screamed. He screamed!” (149). In this case, the government killed an innocent civilian just so that they would not be blamed for letting Montag escape. Today, there are a few instances where the government has done exactly the same thing. For...

...Bethany Edwards
Censorship or Knowledge
Ray Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit451 is a good example of censorship and restriction and the results of what can happen because of this. Ray Bradbury predicts in his novel that the future is without literature -- everything from newspapers to novels to the Bible. This novel is about a world that is so structured and censored that even a common fireman exist not to fight fires, for all buildings are fireproof, but instead to burn books. Books are made to be thought of as evil and anyone caught with books hidden in their home is forced out of it while the firemen force their way in and turn the house into an inferno. Fahrenheit451 is a horrific account of what could happen in an all too close future when society carries "political correctness" to its extreme. Set in the 24th century, Ray Bradbury tells a story of the protagonist, Guy Montag. At first, Montag takes pleasure in his profession as a fireman, burning illegally owned books and the homes of their owners. However, Montag soon begins to question the value of his profession and, in turn, his life. He begins to wonder why some people are willing to sacrifice their lives to keep their books. In a society where censorship and restrictions are in force, always a few people will resist this control and seek to find the answers. Montag becomes one of these people as he begins to question “why” reading books are...

...Megan Wright
Mr. Owens
English 9
14 April 2013
Rough Draft #1
451 degrees Fahrenheit is the temperature at which book-paper catches fire, and burns (Lenhoff). In Fahrenheit451, Ray Bradbury is trying to teach the reader about the dangers of books and history as seen in characters, symbols, and events. Bradbury’s novel is about a future American society where books are outlawed and firemen are told they have to burn any house that has books in it. Books are banned because they contain contradictory ideas and can confront the comfortable prejudices and ignorance that abounds (Zacharias). Beatty is the chief at the firehouse. Fahrenheit451 describes a country caught in the grip of both an external war with another power, and a civil war between city dwellers and ragtag anarchists (McNamee).
The main character in the book is Guy Montag. His job is to be a fireman, and he has to burn books as they are discovered hidden in people’s homes (Zacharias). It is a crime to own books in this community. The government uses fire departments to enforce this ban (Lenhoff). The firemen in this futuristic society aren’t the same as ours today; instead of putting out fires, they set books on fire. All of the buildings are “fireproofed”; the structure itself can’t catch on fire but the contents of the house, including books, will all burn.
No one in the community has ever really questioned about...

...One versus the Rest
Through a story about a society of people who have lost touch with their humanity and history while allowing themselves to become victims of propaganda and censorship. These people have become mindless and naïve. The science fiction film Fahrenheit451 was directed by François Truffaut. This film predicted that the future is to become greatly dependent on technology implications for immediate happiness. The fact that the growth of television and technology has driven the people not to read has become a deficit to society. Seeing the struggles that one person goes through and it effecting his job, the internal conflict that has been brought upon him. Based on the 1953 novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury, the film is about a future in which a fireman, whose duty it is to destroy all books, and then begins to question his task.
In the future, a totalitarian government employs a force to seek out and destroy all literature. Montag, one of the fireman runs into his neighbor, Clarisse who is a schoolteacher whose job is hanging by a thread due to her unorthodox views. The two then have a discussion about his job, where she asks if he ever reads the books he burns. Starting to become curious Montag begins to hide books in his house. This leads to conflict with his wife (Linda), who is more concerned about being a member of The Family, an interactive television program that refers to its viewers as "cousins". The captain...

...Thought
Imagine a world with no free thought and where reading books is viewed as a threat to society and the happiness of its citizens. Ray Bradbury did just this in his novel Fahrenheit451. Concerned by the rise of technology and the relationship between burning books and burning people, Bradbury sought to highlight the dangerous path that society is on, one that could lead to mindlessness and thoughtlessness. In Fahrenheit451, Bradbury challenges thoughtlessness and promotes freethinking through the construction of his characters. He uses the character of Mildred and her friends to show the consequences of a superficial, dumbed-down society that focuses on pleasure, while Montag and Clarisse show the power and importance of free thought.
Mildred is presented in Fahrenheit451 as the epitome of the thoughtless society where knowledge has given way to entertainment. Mildred is the victim of a pleasure-driven society, she has been drawn into the trappings of technology which have then made her dull and destroyed her free thought. Mildred is constantly watching the ‘parlour’ and calls it the ‘family’, showing that in this society technology has replaced genuine relationships. She listens to the seashell every night which insinuates a dependence on the technology.
In fact, the first time that we meet Mildred she is described as dead, “like a body displayed on the lid of a tomb.”...

...of the first part of Fahrenheit451. The hearth, or fireplace, is a traditional symbol of the home; the salamander is one of the official symbols of the firemen, as well as the name they give to their fire trucks. Both of these symbols have to do with fire, the dominant image of Montag’s life—the hearth because it contains the fire that heats a home, and the salamander because of ancient beliefs that it lives in fire and is unaffected by flames.
The hearth is a symbol of the home, and the salamander is a symbol of the firemen.
Back in the day, Gangs used to protect the hood it represented and made sure enemies do not step foot on their property. Currently, Gangs hurt random innocent people, and do despicable things. This relates to Fahrenheit451, how Firemen used to put out fires, opposed to setting them. Firemen would save citizens from house fires or building fires and assemble rescue teams for more safety. However, the Firemen described in the book, set fires by burning people’s homes and personal assets like BOOKS. For Montag, Fire can be classified in two ways; depression (in the beginning) and warmth and comfort (in the end). The salamander is Montag’s depression because being a firemen, he has made his life secretly unhappy. The hearth is Montag’s warmth and comfort. In the end of the novel, when he sits by the bonfire and feels a good kind of warmth, he feels at home.
The sieve and the sand
The title...

...Prof. Kordich
English 68
10 June 2013
Dreams that Destroy Freedom
American culture thrives on being ‘the land of the free’. The rags-to-riches story to the immigrant success story, seem to define the American Dream. We are told that these achievements can be done by adapting to America’s ideals and cultural norms. The ‘American Dream’ is attainable for those who fall in step with the majority. This conformity is illustrated in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit451. In the novel, Guy Montag becomes disillusioned with the illiterate ignorance of his society. Through a series of tragic events, Montag finds the vapid world must be changed. This change will be the only way to attain true knowledge, thus freedom. This society, based in ‘fiction’, echoes many of the same values encouraged by the American Dream. By considering the values of media influence, ideal appearance and importance of the nature, it is clear that the American Dream in Bradbury’s Fahrenheit451 makes its occupants ignorant and selfish. .
Within Bradbury’s Fahrenheit, media is used as tool to eliminate a thoughtful society. The government creates ignorance through the empty television programming the citizens are exposed to. For example, Montag arrives home and finds Mildred and her guests watching senseless streams of incoherent images. As Montag watches the women from a removed area of the room while the walls projected, “Abruptly...

...Bradbury's novel, Fahrenheit451, was written at the onset of the fifties as a call to the American people to reflect on how the dominant social values of their times were effecting both the lives of individual Americans and their government. Fahrenheit451 attacks utopian government and focuses on society's foolishness of always being politically correct. (Mogen 113). According to Mogen, Fahrenheit451 depicts a world in which the American Dream has turned into a nightmare because it has been superficially understood. (Mogen 107) In order to understand Bradley's social critique, it is essential to realize that he wrote Fahrenheit451 in the wake of World War II and the early days of the Cold War, in a political climate that was increasingly favoring security over the civil liberties of individuals (Mogen 124, 114). Due to the Cold War, Americans continuously felt threatened by the idea of communism and the idea of hostility from communist countries (Mogen 115). Any association with communism would immediately ostracize an American politician (Mogen 115). In Fahrenheit451, Bradbury displays a futuristic utopian society where "the people did not read books, enjoy nature, spend time by themselves, think independently, or have meaningful conversations." (Mogen 111). About sixty years later, some would argue that our society has...